Hall Thrusters are typically used in rockets, satellites, spacecraft, and the like. In a typical Hall Thruster the working fluid is plasma and the means of acceleration is an electric field. A Hall thruster typically includes a plasma accelerator that includes a propellant, a gas distributor, and an anode located at one end of a channel. An electric circuit provides an electric potential that is applied between the anode and a floating externally located cathode that emits electrons. A magnetic circuit structure typically includes an outer pole, an inner pole, and a plurality of outer magnetic field sources, e.g., electromagnetic coils or permanent magnets, for the outer pole and an inner magnetic field source for the inner pole. The magnetic circuit structure establishes a transverse magnetic field between the outer pole and the inner pole that presents an impedance to electrons attracted to the anode. As a result, the electrons spend most of their time drifting azimuthally (orthogonally) due to the transverse magnetic field. This allows the electrons time to collide with and ionize the neutral atoms. The collisions create positively charged ions that are accelerated by the electric field to create thrust. See e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,150,764; 6,078,321; 6,834,492 by one or more common inventors hereof, all incorporated in their entity by reference herein.
When a plurality of conventional Hall thrusters are arranged in close proximity to each other to power a spacecraft or similar vehicle, each plasma accelerator of each thruster requires its own magnetic circuit structure that typically includes a plurality of outer magnetic field sources for the outer pole and an inner magnetic field source for the inner pole. Each thruster also includes its own power processing unit (PPU) that provides power for the magnetic circuit structure and the electric circuit. Such a design suffers from excessive weight, volume and power, is complex, expensive, and inefficient.